Movie #61: The Wizard of Oz

Movie #: 61
Movie Title: The Wizard of Oz
Year Released: 1939

Director: Victor Fleming
Notable Cast: Judy Garland, Frank Morgan, Ray Bolger, Bert Lahr, Jack Haley, Billie Burke, Margaret Hamilton, Charley Grapewin, Clara Blandick

Short Description: Dorothy Gale is swept away to a magical land in a tornado and embarks on a quest to see the Wizard who can help her return home. (IMDB.com)


Rank on the Top 100 Lists (as of 1/7/2013)

AFI.com: #10
IMDB.com: N/A
Ranker.com: #70
Lifed.com: #70
Empire.com: N/A
FilmCrave.com: #55
FlickChart.com: #98



Date Watched: 8/18/2016

Grade: 4 out of 5 (Excellent)

Rationale: One of the main reasons I think highly of The Wizard of Oz is the fact its a technical marvel with its usage of both black and white for the Kansas scenes and color for the Oz scenes while being made almost 80 years ago. Not every trick of the trade in the movie is perfect, for example you can clearly see a door in the floor open to release the red smoke when the Wicked Witch of the West departs from Munchkinland, but it's a solid effort all around. The most important part of The Wizard of Oz, though, is the music. Other than the musical number that the munchkins sing to introduce themselves, I've always enjoyed the catchy songs, particularly the Scarecrow's "If I Only Had a Brain" and Dorothy's classic "Somewhere Over the Rainbow".